personal introduction - 2nd acgmun … during these three days. my name is marianna zambeli and i...
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Pierce-The American College of Greece Model United Nations | 2017
ACGMUN Study Guide|Page1 of 12
Committee: Social, Humanitarian and Cultural Committee
Issue: Protection of cultural heritage in times of conflict
Student Officer: Margarita Kourti Menou, Marianna Zambeli
Position: Co-chairs
PERSONAL INTRODUCTION
My name is Margarita Kourti Menou and I am currently attending the last
year of high school at the 14th General High School of Thessaloniki. ACGMUN will be
my 7th MUN conference and my last one as a high school student. I am very excited
to be one of the chairs of this committee and I am sure that we will all have a great
time during these three days.
My name is Marianna Zambeli and I will be one of your Co-Chairs during the
1st session of ACGMUN in the Social Cultural and Humanitarian Committee.
ACGMUN will be the 15thConference at which I am going to be taking part in and my
6th time as a Student Officer. I am currently an IB1 student at CGS. Margarita and I
are open to any questions that you may have concerning the topic prior and during
the conference. I am looking forward to meeting you all in March.
Kind regards, your Co- Chairs,
Marianna Zambeli & Margarita Kourti Menou
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TOPIC INTRODUCTION
The destruction or damage of cultural heritage isn’t a recent phenomenon, as
such events have been taking place for centuries now. When it comes to war such
destruction may take place as casualties of war, or as actions which aim towards the
destruction of sites with great value for certain nations. This phenomenon saw its
greater rise during the Second World War where a great amount of cultural property
was destroyed, damaged or looted. Since then the United Nations adopted the first
international treaty concerning the topic which was the Hague Convention in 1954;
one that has been signed by most member states. As it will be mentioned further
down in this study guide, the United Nations and its members have taken various
others measures in order to combat the issue. It is of outmost importance that this
issue is to be resolved, since it has serious implications in many aspects of a nation’s
economy, political and social stability.
DEFINITION OF KEY TERMS
Culture
“The set of distinctive spiritual, material, intellectual and emotional features of
society or a social group, and that it encompasses, in addition to art and literature,
lifestyles, ways of living together, value systems, traditions and beliefs.”1
Cultural Heritage
“Cultural Heritage is an expression of the ways of living developed by a community
and passed on from generation to generation, including customs, practices, places,
objects, artistic expressions and values. Cultural Heritage is often expressed as
Tangible or Intangible Cultural Heritage.”2
Movable Cultural Heritage
“Property which, on religious or secular grounds, is specifically designated by each
State as being of importance for archaeology, prehistory, history, literature, art or
science and which belongs to the following categories:
a. rare collections and specimens of fauna, flora, minerals and anatomy, and
objects of paleontological interest;
1"UNESCO Universal Declaration on Cultural Diversity." UNESCO.org. N.p., 02 Nov. 2001. Web. 06 Feb.
2017. 2 "What is Cultural Heritage." Culture in Development. N.p., n.d. Web. 06 Feb. 2017.
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b. property relating to history, including the history of science and technology and
military and social history, to the life of national leaders, thinkers, scientists and
artist and to events of national importance;
c. products of archaeological excavations (including regular and clandestine) or of
archaeological discoveries;
d. elements of artistic or historical monuments or archaeological sites which have
been dismembered;
e. antiquities more than one hundred years old, such as inscriptions, coins and
engraved seals; objects of ethnological interest;
f. property of artistic interest, such as: pictures, paintings and drawings produced
entirely by hand on any support and in any material (excluding industrial designs
and manufactured articles decorated by hand);
g. original works of statuary art and sculpture in any material; original engravings,
prints and lithographs;
h. original artistic assemblages and montages in any material;
i. rare manuscripts and incunabula, old books, documents and publications of
special interest (historical, artistic, scientific, literary, etc.) singly or in
collections; postage, revenue and similar stamps, singly or in collections;
j. archives, including sound, photographic and cinematographic archives;
k. articles of furniture more than one hundred years old and old musical
instruments.” 3
Immovable Cultural Heritage
“Monuments, such as architectural works, works of monumental sculpture and
painting, elements or structures of an archaeological nature, inscriptions, cave
dwellings and combinations of features, which are of outstanding universal value
from the point of view of history, art or science; groups of buildings, such as groups
of separate or connected buildings which, because of their architecture, their
homogeneity or their place in the landscape, are of outstanding universal value from
the point of view of history, art or science; and sites, such as works of man or the
combined works of nature and man, and areas including archaeological sites which
are of outstanding universal value from the historical, aesthetic, ethnological or
anthropological point of view”4
3 "Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of
Ownership of Cultural Property." UNESCO.org. N.p., 14 Nov. 1970. Web. 06 Feb. 2017. 4 "Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage." UNESCO.org.
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Illicit traffic
“The import, export or transfer of ownership of property contrary to the provisions
of the domestic legal norms of the jurisdiction in which the import, export, or
transfer occurred and/or any applicable international legal norms”5
Looting
The act of stealing goods (artifacts) from a place, mainly in periods of war or riot
International Armed Conflict
“All cases of declared war or of any armed conflict that may arise between two or
more high contracting parties, even if the state of war is not recognized, the
convention shall also apply to all cases of partial or total occupation of the territory
of a high contracting party even if the said occupation meets with no armed
resistance”6
Non-International Armed Conflict
“Armed conflicts that are non-international in nature occurring in one of the High
contracting parties”7
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
As previously mentioned the destruction of cultural property isn’t a
phenomenon that is firstly observed today but has been present since the ancient
years. The phenomenon hasn’t stopped since then and if anything it has become
more frequent in recent years. The countries that are at the center of the problem
are the ones in the Middle East, since the destruction of cultural artifacts is a
consequence of either war or ideological driven actions that at times may be profit
based. When it comes to ideology the motive is the fact that the destroyers don’t
value such heritage sites and are against the symbols that they may
represent.Cultural heritage may stand of different importance to different people
and that is why it is very difficult to adopt an exclusive definition for them.
5 "Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of
Ownership of Cultural Property." UNESCO.org. 6 "How is the Term "Armed Conflict" Defined in International Humanitarian Law?" International
Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). ICRC, Mar. 2008. Web. 7 "How is the Term "Armed Conflict" Defined in International Humanitarian Law?" International
Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). ICRC, Mar. 2008. Web.
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Ideological driven actions
Today, the destruction of cultural artifacts is considered by many an ISIS-
related destruction in the Middle East. Destruction of cultural heritage has been
characterized as a war crime by the United Nations, something that calls for the
measures to be taken in order to combat the issue and protect the cultural artifacts
in danger. So, as previously mentioned, the general area that is affected is the
Middle East and the two countries that are mostly targeted by ISIS are Syria and Iraq.
The countries are fighting back but there are still a lot of consequences concerning
cultural heritage, such as the damage or the complete destruction of them along
with an impact of great importance to the society as a whole. Syria had 6 UNESCO
culture heritage sites and as of today, all six of them have undergone some type of
damage.
War Casualties
Apart from ideology driven and an ISIS related attacks, cultural artifacts are
simply in danger when it comes to casualties of war. During conflict, both movable
and immovable artifacts that are exposed in war zones, are directly affected by
attacks that take place during times of conflict.
At the moment, there are 46 World Heritage Sites (WHS) listed in the “World
Heritage Sites in danger” list. Societies have been trying to protect the cultural
heritage of their country because of educational or historical research and the
national value and sense of identity they convey.
Short history of UNESCO’s role on the topic
Among all the other results of war, the
destruction of cultural heritage is one of the most
important ones. There are hundreds of examples that
prove that cultural masterpieces have been destroyed in
times of conflict all around the world. After the Second
World War, when UNESCO was founded (1946), all
member-states decided that, along with the educational
matters they were facing, the cultural ones were severe
too. While the organization started dealing with
educational issues upon its establishment, it took many
years to start addressing the cultural ones. It was around 1960, when UNESCO
started a campaign, during which they relocated 22 monuments that were in danger.
The organization’s actions regarding cultural heritage led to the adoption of the
Convention on the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage in 1972 and
the establishment of the World Heritage Committee in 1976.
# 1: United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization
logo
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Causes of destruction of cultural heritage in times of conflict
Destruction of cultural heritage during war periods can be traced back to
three main causes; these being the casualties of war, profit seeking and ideology.
When it comes to casualties of war, there are hundreds of examples of
heritage that was destroyed during World War II, such as the Royal Castle in
Warsaw, Poland and St. Michael’s church in Coventry, UK. In times of conflict, the
heritage of each and every country is in danger, as it may itself be corrupted, ruined
or even destroyed by the armed conflict taking place within the country.
Profit seeking as a cause of the destruction of cultural heritage can be found
at all times, from people stealing golden items from ancient tombs, to ISIS looting
religious buildings in the Middle East in order to sell the valuable parts in the black
markets so that ISIS can fund its activities.
Finally, terrorist groups or conquerors destroy certain artifacts or buildings
because they counter their ideologies. Over the past few years, ISIS has destroyed
several decorating elements and frescoes from mosques in Mosul because they
deemed them as “an erroneous form of creativity, contradicting the basics of
sharia”.
Consequences of the destruction of cultural heritage
The destruction of cultural heritage has several consequences to a country,
both financially and socially.
Sites are one of the main reasons why a place may be popular to tourists, as
they visit them in order to learn about the history of the country and the culture of
ancient civilizations that lived there. Schools and scientists may also want to see and
examine a monument for a project or for research. All the people that visit the site
buy tickets, catalogues and souvenirs and part of these resources end up in the
country’s fund. The destruction of those monuments lessens the number of tourists
and consequently, the profit benefiting the economy. Another economic
consequence of the destruction of cultural heritage is that people that used to work
in the sites will remain unemployed, further straining the economy.
When it comes to the social aspect of the topic, as UNESCO Director-General,
Irina Bokova declared at the World Economic Forum in Davos on 17 January 2017,
“The destruction of heritage is a destruction of identities”. Meaning that when the
cultural heritage of a country is destroyed, a part of its history dies with it and the
citizens of the country lose a part of their identity. When the monument is destroyed
in times of conflict, it is even more difficult for the people to endure the loss of this
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part of their history, because they have lost family, friends and loved ones in the war
as well.
MAJOR COUNTRIES AND ORGANISATIONS INVOLVED
Iraq
In the past years, the
Islamic State has destroyed
numerous churches, mosques and
other cultural heritage in Iraq,
mostly between the fall of Mosul
in June 2014 and February 2015.
The extremist group has looted
several artifacts from the temples
and sold them in the black market
in order to raise money for their
operations.
A well-known example is the footage ISIS disclosed on the 26th of February
2015 of them destroying numerous ancient artifacts in the Mosul Museum, with
almost all of them being originals. They claimed that the artifacts promoted
“idolatry” and the event led UNESCO’s director-general to call for a meeting of the
Security Council regarding the destruction of cultural property in Iraq.
Syria
Syria is another country in the Middle East that tries to deal with ISIS.
Terrorists have caused damages in many cultural heritage artifacts in Syria, with the
most important loss being several parts of the historic cities of Palmyra and Aleppo.
Syria is also a case where ISIS has used parts of the destroyed monuments to fund
their organization, despite the UN’s ban on the trade of artifacts that were looted
from Syria in 2011.
Libya and Yemen
Libya and Yemen are countries with ongoing wars, in which the cultural
heritage of the countries are in danger because of the conflicts. Libya is also another
country that the Islamic State has targeted and destroyed its artifacts but to a lesser
extent. The International Council of Museums noted, in particular, that cultural
heritage from the ancient city of Tripoli was being looted and sold illegally all over
the world and requested assistance from Interpol and the UN in putting an end to
the situation.
# 2: World Heritage sites in the Middle East
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United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization was
established in 1946 and is the main UN organization that deals with the issue of
cultural heritage around the world. It awards certain sites with the title of a “World
Heritage Site”, after they have been nominated by the country where they are
located in and their authenticity and uniqueness as piece of significant cultural value
has been confirmed. Heritages that get the aforementioned title are inscribed on the
World Heritage List8. The significance of this title is ratified in the World Heritage
Convention of 1972. In cooperation with other smaller organizations, UNESCO is
running numerous operations concerning the rescue of several heritage sites around
the world.
International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS)
The International Council on Monuments and Sites was established in 1965
and it is a sub-organization of UNESCO. Its main purpose is the protection and
maintenance of monuments and historical heritage. ICOMOS is one of the three
expert bodies of the World Heritage Committee and approximately 95 states
collaborate with it.
International Centre for the Study of the Preservation and Restoration of Cultural
Property (ICCROM)
ICCROM was established by UNESCO in 1959 and it has 110 Member States
and numerous associate members, as it is the second expert body consulting the
World Heritage Committee. The ICCROM has cooperated with UNESCO in several
projects with its main aim being the preservation and restoration of numerous
cultural heritage sites.
World Heritage Committee
The World Heritage Committee was established in 1976
and is responsible for the World Heritage Fund and the funding
that is delivered to states for the protection and sustaining of
their monuments. It has the final say on whether a monument
is inscribed on the World Heritage List or not. Above all, it is
responsible for the implementation of the World Heritage
Convention. The Committee has had 40 sessions so far which
take place every year since its establishment. The 41st ordinary
session is arranged to take place from July 2nd to July 12th2017
8 http://whc.unesco.org/en/list
# 3: Logo of the World Heritage Committee
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TIMELINE OF EVENTS
Date Description of event
1939-1944 During Second World War a massive number of artifacts were destroyed or looted
May 1954 The Hague convention was adopted
November 1970 UNESCO Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property
1992-1995 The National Library in Sarajevo was destroyed during the Bosnian war, due to territorial disputes
2001 The Bamiyan Buddhas, in Afghanistan was destroyed
February 2015 Mosul museum was destroyed
2015 ISIS occupation of Palmyra in Syria, and other five cultural heritage sites
RELEVANT RESOLUTIONS, TREATIES AND EVENTS
UNESCO declaration concerning the Intentional
Destruction of Cultural Heritage
The UNESCO declaration concerning the intentional
destruction of cultural heritage was adopted on the 17th of
October 2003 after recognizing the increasing numbers of
acts of destruction against cultural heritage and especially
the destruction of the Bamiyan Buddhas located in
Afghanistan in 2001. The UNESCO declaration deals with
acts of destruction against cultural heritage; these being
either movable or immovable artifacts. It underlines
measures that should be taken in order to protect cultural
heritage during times of conflict and in peacem aking
periods.
Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the
Event of Armed Conflict
The Convention for the Protection of Cultural
Property in the Event of Armed Conflict; namely The Hague
Convention, was adopted on the 14th of May 1954 due to
the catastrophic consequences and losses of the Second World War. The treaty has
segments which propose measures for the protection of cultural heritage during
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conflict and peacetime and is responsible for imposing sanctions against members
that violate it and covers both movable and immovable heritage.
UNESCO Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import,
Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property
The UNESCO Convention on the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the
Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of Ownership of Cultural Property is an
international treaty which concerns illicit trafficking of cultural property. It was
adopted on 14th of November 1970. As of 2016 131 member states are parts of the
treaty.
PREVIOUS ATTEMPTS TO SOLVE THE ISSUE
Apart from the previously mentioned there haven’t been any other major
international treaties launched by UNESCO concerning the protection of cultural
heritage. There have been projects launched which were mainly aiming towards
public awareness concerning cultural heritage and any other plan has been
conducted by individual organizations which have always respected the treaties
signed.
These organizations, such as the Blue Shield or the World Monument Fund,
were established in different member states that are cooperating with the
government of each country in order to introduce definite measures that will protect
cultural heritage, combat the problem and work towards preserving the monuments
along with conduction plans of action in emergency situations.
POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS
After the Second World War there were tremendous consequences and
losses concerning cultural heritage, therefore nations created the Hague convention
in 1954 with the goal of stopping such atrocities from occurring against cultural
heritage. In recent events we have experienced massive acts against cultural
heritage during times of conflict either intentional or not. Therefore some measures
need to be underlined, so as to tackle the issue.
Firstly, one way to protect the artifacts would be through moving them to a
safer place in order to protect them from any damage during periods of conflict. This
measure wouldn’t be ideal for immovable artifacts since they usually are buildings or
monuments. Furthermore, moving sites from their historical position would mean
that they could lose their historical and national value. In any case, during conflict
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heritage should be safeguarded in places that will prevent them from getting
damaged, destroyed or looted.
Secondly, security measures and legal legislations should be strengthened in
accordance to treaties and conventions signed by each member state. So, for
example immovable heritage and movable heritage in museums should be closely
safeguarded by the troops of each country in order to lessen the damage, should
something happen.
Lastly, concerning the looting of cultural heritage and illicit trafficking in order
to stop ISIS from having an increasing income, any trade between nations and the
Islamic State shall be prohibited as it is underlined under the UNESCO Convention on
the Means of Prohibiting and Preventing the Illicit Import, Export and Transfer of
Ownership of Cultural Property. This measure would eliminate the amount of
cultural heritage being looted and being exported from their countries of origin.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Text
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Centre, UNESCO World Heritage."Convention Concerning the Protection of the
World Cultural and Natural Heritage."UNESCO World Heritage Centre.N.p., n.d. Web.
26 Jan. 2017.
"What Is Cultural Heritage." Culture in Development.N.p., n.d. Web. 26 Jan. 2017.
Disclaimer: The Choice And The Presentation Of The Facts Contained In This Work
Are Those Of The Author And Are Not Necessarily Those Of Unesco, And Do Not
Commit The Organization. The Designations Employed And The Presentation Of
Material In This Publication Do Not Imply The, and Endorsement On The Part Of The
Secretariat Of Unesco Concerning The Legal Interpretation Of Any Of The Terms
Contained Within The Work. UNESCO Database of National Cultural Heritage Laws
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"Pan-African Cultural Manifesto." PrésenceAfricaine No. 71.Hommage à Jean Price-
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Chelimo, Gerturde. "Defining Armed Conflict in International Humanitarian Law."
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Lambert, S. Protecting Cultural Heritage in times of Conflict Contributions from the
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Conflict. Rome: ICCROM, 2012.
Centre, UNESCO World Heritage."The World Heritage Committee."UNESCO World
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"Map: There Are 10 World Heritage Sites in Iraq and Syria. Nine Are in Danger." The
Washington Post. WP Company, 1 Sept. 2015. Web. 26 Jan. 2017.
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Headlines." The Washington Post. WP Company, n.d. Web. 06 Feb. 2017.
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